Gigantea Carpet Anemone

Care at a glance

Overview

Needs very intense reef lighting, strong flow, and rock stable water chemistry; it is widely regarded as needing the brightest light of any anemone commonly kept. Feed it chopped fish or shrimp with a target feeder once it is settled. It stings hard, can capture small fish or shrimp that get too close, and moves across the sand on its own schedule, so isolate it from corals and clams and keep pump intakes guarded. Beyond the classic percula and ocellaris pairing, clark's, pink skunk, and a few other regional Amphiprion species will also host in it. Survival rates outside a large, extremely well equipped and established reef tank are genuinely low, and even experienced keepers often lose specimens within a few years, so this is not a species to buy on impulse; acclimate it slowly and only into a tank that can already support demanding SPS corals.

In the wild

Found on shallow, current-swept sand and rubble flats across the Indo-West Pacific, where it anchors its foot in a hole and spreads a wide, sticky oral disc with long, pointed tentacles across the surface. Despite the giant in its name, it is actually one of the smaller carpet species by oral disc diameter next to Haddon's or Mertens', but it demands the most intense light of any of them, which is a big part of why it is considered an expert only anemone. In the wild it is a classic host for true percula and ocellaris clownfish.

Good to know

Stichodactyla gigantea gets much of its energy from symbiotic zooxanthellae but needs unusually high light intensity to keep them healthy, and it is notably slow to recover from shipping stress or a bacterial infection picked up in transit. It reproduces both sexually and asexually by fission, and, like its carpet relatives, carries a potent sting delivered through long, adhesive tentacles.

Did you know

Despite its name, the gigantea is smaller than several other carpet anemones in the hobby; the giant refers to its reputation rather than its size, since it is one of the hardest anemones to keep alive for more than a few years even with expert care.

Related species

• 

  Haddon's Carpet Anemone

  Stichodactyla haddoni

  33.5 in (85 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Mertens' Carpet Anemone

  Stichodactyla mertensii

  35.4 in (90 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Maxi-Mini Carpet Anemone

  Stichodactyla tapetum

  3.1 in (8 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Magnificent Anemone

  Heteractis magnifica

  19.7 in (50 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Sebae Anemone

  Heteractis crispa

  15.7 in (40 cm)40 gal (150 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Aurora Anemone

  Heteractis aurora

  11.8 in (30 cm)50 gal (190 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)